Method of and apparatus for effecting cooling of heated objects



Nov. 7, 1933. I A. A. NEAVE ET AL 1,934,203

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COOLING OF HEATED OBJECTS Filed Aug. so, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 avwentoz y Nov. 7, 1933. A. A. NEAVE ET AL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COOLING OF HEATED OBJECTS Filed Aug. 30, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ll A Nov. 7, 1933. A. A. NEAVE ET AL 1,934,203

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COOLING OE HEATED OBJECTS Filed Aug. 30, 1950 4 Shets-Sheet 3 m awuewbow Jgzdrad if. Wade (2: a m z 1/ 351? we 1' 6 5 ram Nov. 7, 1933. A. A. NEAVE ET AL.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COOLING OF HEATED OBJECTS Filed Aug. 30, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IVIETHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECT- ING COOLING OF HEATED OBJECTS Application August 30, 1930. Serial No. 478,820

12 Claims.

This invention relates to the handling of hot metal bars, such as spring flats, for effecting retarded cooling or annealing thereof following their emergence from a rolling mill. An object of the invention is the provision of means simplifled in construction and highly effective in operation whereby spring flats and the like may be stacked for group or stack annealing. Our invention further provides a stacking arrangement wherein the metal bars or flats are deposited upon the stacking plate and caused to travel thereon towards a conveying means in such manner that piling of the bars on top of each other is prevented and the necessity of manually straightening out the bars at the end of the stacking plate is eliminated. The invention also provides a stacking mechanism comprising a stop movable transversely to the direction of travel of the flats, and a pusher bar operated in timed relation to said stop. The invention also comprises other features which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view illustrating a stacking means embodying our invention and its relation to means for delivering bars or flats to the stacking means and for conveying stacked bars or flats therefrom.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation, partly in vertical section, and on an enlarged scale, of the stacking means of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and

Figs. 4-7, inclusive, are detail views on an enlarged scale showing different positions assumed by the stop and pusher bar in the stacking operation.

Referring to the drawings conventional means comprising a run-in table 5 and skids 6 are shown for delivering bars or flats 7, one by one, from a rolling mill to the stacking plate 8. The bars, as is well-understood in the art, are conveyed one after another, upon the run-in table as they are received from the rolling mill and are delivered to the skids 6, whence they travel successively downwardly to the stacking plate.

In carrying out our invention we provide a series of pusher bars 9 connected to crank arms 10 on a shaft 11 supported for oscillation on frame 12. Each pusher bar is provided with a notched forward portion 13 adapted to cooperate with a roller 14 which may be positioned on the adjacent skid bar 6. Said roller supports the forward end of the associated pusher bar when the latter is out of engagement with the stacking plate 8, as

shown in Fig. 1. A pusher bar 9 may be provided for each skid. Shaft 11 is connected by crank 15, link 16, and crank 1'7 with a drive shaft 18. A series of stops 19, one for cooperation with each pusher bar, are positioned in stacking plate 8, each stop being movable in a vertical channel 20 in said stacking plate. The drive shaft 18 carries a cam. 21 for controlling the stops 19. Each of the stops 19, as shown in Fig. 2, may be pivotally connected to a corresponding one of a series of arms 22 secured to a shaft 23, which shaft is connected through crank 24 and link 25 to an arm 26 of a lever 27. An arm 28 of said lever 27 carries a roller 28' contacting with the periphery of the cam 21. Each of the stops 19 is provided with an upward extension 29 having oppositely inclined sides 30, 31.

The operation of the foregoing mechanism is as follows. The bars or flats '7 are fed one by one down the skids 6 to the stackingplate 8. In Figs. 1 and 4 a bar 7 is shown on the bottom end portions of skids 6, ready to be removed therefrom by the pusher bars 9. As the drive shaft 18 1'0- tates in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1) the crank arms 10 cause the pusher bars 9 to be moved forwardly into engagement with the flat 7 and to shift said flat into the position shown in Fig. 5. The rollers 14, in cooperation with cam portions 13' of the pusher bars, guide said bars during their forward movement into position for engagement with the top surface of the stacking plate 8. When the pusher bars are in the position indicated in Fig. 5, the cutaway portion 32 of cam 21 commences to cooperate with lever arm 28, so that as the shaft 18 continues its rotation, the stops 19 move downwardly into the position shown in Figs. 6 and '7. The weight of the stops and arms 22 may be suflicient to cause said stops to move downwardly until the roller on arm 28 engages the cut away portion of cam 21, or such weight may, if desired, be assisted by a spring suitably connected for that purpose. The pusher bars,-during said downward movement of the stops, move further forwardly, forcing the bar or flat 7 aforesaid through the position shown in Fig. 6 into that shown in Fig. 7. It may be noted that the forward ends of the pusher bars are inclined rearwardly so that the flat 7 is supported in a correspondingly inclined position while engaged by said bars. As rotation of shaft 18 cont nues the cutaway portion 32 of cam 21 departs from engagement with arm 28, and said cam acts upon said arm to raise the stops 19. Each of the pusher bars 9 is provided with a forked forward end portion 33 (Fig. 3), which permits the associated stop 19 to move upwardly and bring its inclined face 3 1 into engagement with the flat 7 engaged by the pusher bar while the pusher bar is in its forward position. At the time that the stops 19 are moved upwardly the crank 17 is in the region of dead center, so that the motion imparted to the pusher bars 13 is slight, and said stops, as shown in'Fig. 2, engage the flat 7 before the pusher bars have moved a substantial distance rearwardly. Further rotation of shaft 18 to its Fig. 1 position restores the pusher bars 13 to their rearward positions while the stops 19 remainin their upper or elevated positions, retaining the flat in the position to which it was shifted by the pusher bars. The succeeding operation of the pusher bars and stops will cause the next flat delivered to platform 8 by the skids to be engaged with. the preceding flat and retained in such position; and as the cycles of operation of said stops and pusher bars continue a stack of flats or bars 7 is formed as shown in Figs. 4-7. It will be noted that, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the pusher bars 9 support the stacked. flats when the stops 19 are withdrawn to permit the addition of a flat to the stack.

Each time that the pusher bars add a flat to the stack on the platform 8, said stack is forced forwardly by said pusher bars a distance correspondng to the thickness of the flat. When the 1 stack of flats has traveled forwardly a suficient distance under the influence of the pusher bars the flat at the forward end of said stack drops from the platform 8 and is. received by a series of pairs of shuiiie bars 35, 35. The platform 8,

- as shown, comprises a series or sections providing guideways 36 in which the respective pairs of shuiiie bars operate. lhe shuttle bars of each pair are moved relatively to each other in an endwise direction and also vertically in a well-known j manner, so as to bring the flats deposited on said bars into engagement with run out rollers 37. The latter, as is well understood in the art, remove the flats in the direction of their lengths, i. e., transversely of their direction of travel on the shuttle bars, and carry them to a point at which further operations may be performed. Means for operating the shuffle bars in the manner above specified are well known in the art and need'not be here described, though in passing it may be noted that we have disclosed operating means of known form comprising eccentric straps 38, 33, connected to the rear ends of the respective shufiie bars or each pair, and operated by eccentrics on a shaft 39.

It has been noted that the flats are deposited upon the staclrng plate with their tops inclined rearwardly. Thus said flats travel along said plate with their bottom ends in advance of their tops. Consequently, as the successive flats are pushed on the plate 8 each of said flats engages the shufiie bars with its bottom in advance of its top md said flats are drawn away one at a time by the shuffle bars. Ths arrangement of the flats avoids the objection of piling up of the flats at the end of the stacking plate, as occurs in the arrangernents heretofore employed, wherein the tops of the flats are in advance of their bottoms. Such piling up of flats necessitates having men with hooks stra'ghten out the flats at the end of the stacking plate so that the flats may be properly removed from said plate. The arrangement which we have provided, by eliminating the piling referred to, obviates the necessity of manual straightening out of flats on the stack'ng plate.

Preferably the top surface of the stacking plate is inclined upwardly from the stops 19 to the forward end of said plate, as shown. This inclination of the top of the stacking plate aids in insuring against piling up of flats on the stacking plate. We flnd an inclination of about /2 inch per foot of the plate to be adequate, though the extent of inclination may be varied.

It will thus be seen that we have provided simple and effective means for stacking flats or bars following their emergence from a rolling mill and for causing said flats or bars to travel in stacked formation to eflect stack annealing thereof. The invention is particularly useful in conjunction with spring flats or similar bars which when standing on edge are unstable and require lateral support, though it will be apparent that the utility of the invention is not confined to any particular type of bar. In case bars are to be handled which are to be cooled more rapidly than in stack annealing, we have provided for rendering the stacking mechanism inefiective and for causing such bars to be received directly by the shufile bars without flrst being delivered to the plate 8. For this purpose we mount the shaft 39, which carries the eccentrics for operating the shuille bars, in pivotal brackets, one of which is shown at 40. By raising said brackets the shaft 39 may be elevated to bring the shulile bars above the stacking plate 8, whereby the flats or bars 7 will be received by said shufiie bars without first engaging the plate 8 and will thus be propelled individually by said shufile bars without being subjected to the influenceof the stacking mechanism. The bars or flats 7 may be received by the shufiie bars from the skids or from well-known escapement or rocker bars which are frequently employed for the delivery of flats and which need not be here described. For raising the shaft 39 and shuiile bars a link all may be connected through a universal joint 42 to the bracket to and may be actuated by any suitable means.

The terms and expressions which we have e ployed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and we have no intention, in the 3-2!) use or" such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and de scribed or portions thereof, out recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

We claim:

1. in apparatus oi the class described, a stackplate, means for delivering a bar to said plate, means for shifting said bar from said delivery means to a given position on said plate, and 130 means for retaining said bar in said position, said last mentioned means comprising a stop movable transversely to the direction of travel of said bar on said plate and in timed relation to said shirting means.

2. Apparatus for stacking metal bars, said apparatus comprising a pusher element, means for reciprocating said element, a stack-supporting stop, and means for withdrawing said stop and 1% restoring the same to operative position in each reciprocation of said pusher element.

3. Apparatus for stacking metal bars, said apparatus comprising a stop, a pusher element, means for causing said pusher element to be first 145 moved forwardly to shift a bar to a given position on said plate and then moved rearwardly preparatory to acting upon a succeeding bar, a stop, and means for causing said stop to be withdrawn from the path of travel of said bar and 150 then restored into position for holding said her in shifted position.

Apparatus of the class described, said apparatus comprising a stacking plate, means for successively depositing bars on edge upon said plate to form a stack, a stop, and means for operating said stop to cause the latter to engage each of said bars successively after the addition thereof to said stack.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a stacking plate, means for depositing bars successively upon said plate to form a stack and concurrently shifting said stack forwardly on said plate, a stop, and means for successively operating said stop in given relation to said stacking means for causing said stop to engage successive bars at the rear end oi said stack.

d. In apparatus of the class described, a stacking plate, means for delivering bars thereto, and means comprising a pusher element and a stop for stacking said bars on said plate with the tops of said bars to the rear of the bottoms thereof, the top of said plate being inclined upwardly and forwardly.

7. In apparatus of the character described, a stacking plate, means for delivering bars to said plate, a pusher element, means for causing said pusher element to shit said bars successively from said delivering means to a given position on said plate, said pusher element having a forked end, a stop receivable in said forked end of said pusher element for retaining said bars in shifted position on said plate prior to withdrawal 0! said element for action upon the next bar presented by said delivering means, and means for withdrawing said stop as an incident to the addition of said next bar to the bars retained by said stop.

8. In a device of the character described, a stacking plate, a stop for retaining a plurality of bars on edge on said plate in stack formation, means for withdrawing said stop to permit the addition or another bar to said stack and a per element for adding another bar to said steels and supporting said bars on edge when said stop is withdrawn.

9. In a device oi? the character described, a stacking plate, a stop for retaining a plurality of bars on edge on said plate in stacked 170F339, tion, said stop being adjacent the point at which bars are added to the stack, and means for withdra said stop to permit the addition of another bar to said stack.

10. In a device of the character described, a

stacking plate adapted to receive heated objects, means for positioning said objects in stack formation on said plate, a plurality of shume bars ior receiving objects from said stacking plate, and means for causing said shuflie bars to receive objects independently of said plate when stacking of said objects is not desired.

11. In a device of the character described, a stacking plate adapted to receive heated objects, means for positioning said objectsin stack formation on said plate, a plurality of shuille bars for receiving objects from said stacking plate, a shaft supporting said shuilie bars, and pivoted means carrying said shaft and shiftable to bring said shume bars into position for receiving objects independently of said plate when stacking of said objects is not desired.

12. In apparatus of the class described, a stacking plate, means for delivering bars thereto, a pusher element, means for operating said element for positioning said bars upon said plate to form a stack and causing said stack to travel forwardly on said plate, a stop having an upwardly and rearwardly inclined face cooperating with said stack, and means operable in timed relation to said pusher element for positively actuating said stop to operative position.

ANDREW A. NEAVE. CARL W. HELS'I'ROM.

dill 

